BTCC: Plato: We've got to improve

Two-time BTCC champion Jason Plato scored his first podium of the year at Croft, but insists BMR Subaru have much to improve for the second half of 2018.

Two-time British Touring Car champion Jason Plato has insisted Team BMR have more work to with the engine installation and cooling with their Subaru Levorg, despite a return to form at Croft.

The 97-time BTCC race winner enjoyed by far his strongest weekend of the year so far at Croft after scoring his first points of the season with second in race one, while his Subaru team mate Ash Sutton took an emphatic double victory.

In what Plato labelled ‘a super day’ for his team mate Sutton, the Subaru driver felt he could have achieved the same, had it not been for his jump-start from the front row during the second race.

Plato admitted his start-line error was ‘probably psychological’ after ‘smelling a victory’ for the first time this season.

“I’m pleased. Ash [Sutton] had a super day. I would have had a super day had I not f****d the start up in race two,” said Plato.

“It was totally my mistake. I was just a bit eager, which is probably psychological because I’ve had such a shit time. I could smell a victory. I was a bit fired up! I just got the timing slightly wrong.

“I would’ve had a win or a second in race two. So that wouldn’t have been a bad weekend.”

Despite Subaru enjoying a resurgence in form, Plato says his team were having to run their Swindon developed powertrain to near and beyond its limit.

Along with maximising the Levorg’s strengths around the RWD friendly Croft layout, Subaru received a small increase in boost at the fifth round, but Plato explained his squad must focus on other areas to maintain their momentum.

“Race three just compounds the frustration that we are s**t in a straight-line. You don’t have to be a bloke with x-ray eyes to figure that out. We’re not just a little bit off, it’s dire.

“So we can’t race. When we’re in the pack we go backwards. I can’t even overtake cars which are having dire tyre problems. I was watching the BMW behind me and it was ahead of me before the start-line.

“We have to work so hard because we’re giving away performance because we’re running too hot. We have some serious issues here with the engine installation and the cooling package, which we’ve got to improve. We’ve got to do a better job.

“Even if we do a better we’re still going to be down on power. It’s not just the engine. It’s everything. If we can get our side totally working 100%, we still won’t have enough power.”